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By: Thomas Carlyle

About fourscore years ago, there used to be seen sauntering on the terraces of Sans Souci, for a short time in the afternoon, or you might have met him elsewhere at an earlier hour, riding or driving in a rapid business manner on the open roads or through the scraggy woods and avenues of that intricate amphibious Potsdam region, a highly interesting lean little old man, of alert though slightly stooping figure

On Sunday morning, October seventh, 1849, Reuben A. Riley and his wife, Elizabeth Marine Riley, rejoiced over the birth of their second son. They called him James Whitcomb. This was in a shady little street in the shady little town of Greenfield, which is in the county of Hancock and the state of Indiana. The young James found a brother and a sister waiting to greet him?John Andrew and Martha Celestia, and afterward came Elva May?Mrs. Henry Eitel?Alexander Humbolt and Ma...

By: Edgar B. P. Darlington

THE LURE OF THE CIRCUS. ?I say, Phil, I can do that.? ?Do what, Teddy?? ?A cartwheel in the air like that fellow is doing in the picture on the billboard there.? ?Oh, pshaw! You only think you can. Besides, that?s not a cartwheel; that?s a double somersault. It?s a real stunt, let me tell you. Why, I can do a cartwheel myself. But up in the air like that?well, I don?t know. I guess not. I?d be willing to try it, though, if I had something below to catch me,? added the la...

By: Victor Appleton

Chapter I. A NARROW ESCAPE. ?That?s the way to do it! Whoop her up, Andy! Shove the spark lever over, and turn on more gasolene! We?ll make a record this trip.? Two lads in the tonneau of a touring car, that was whirling along a country road, leaned forward to speak to the one at the steering wheel. The latter was a red-haired youth, with somewhat squinty eyes, and not a very pleasant face, but his companions seemed to regard him with much favor. Perhaps it was because t...

By: Thomas Carlyle

The Brandenburg Countries, till they become related to the Hohenzollern Family which now rules there, have no History that has proved memorable to mankind. There has indeed been a good deal written under that title; but there is by no means much known, and of that again there is alarmingly little that is worth knowing or remembering.

By: Hippolyte A. Taine

Preface: This second part of ?Les Origines de la France Contemporaine? will consist of two volumes. -- Popular insurrections and the laws of the Constituent Assembly end in destroying all government in France; this forms the subject of the present volume. -- A party arises around an extreme doctrine, grabs control of the government, and rules in conformity with its doctrine. This will form the subject of the second volume.

By: Victor Appleton

Chapter I. A MOTOR-BOAT AUCTION. ?Where are you going, Tom?? asked Mr. Barton Swift of his son as the young man was slowly pushing his motor-cycle out of the yard toward the country road. ?You look as though you had some object in view.?

By: Thomas Carlyle

THE HOHENZOLLERNS IN BRANDENBURG. KURFURST FRIEDRICH I. Burggraf Friedrich, on his first coming to Brandenburg, found but a cool reception as Statthalter. [?Johannistage? (24 June) ?1412,? he first set foot in Brandenburg, with due escort, in due state; only Statthalter (Viceregent) as yet: Pauli, i. 594, II. 58; Stenzel, Geschichte des Preussischen Staats (Hamburg, 1830, 1851), i. 167-169.] He came as the representative of law and rule; and there had been m...

By: Hippolyte A. Taine

By: Edgar B. P. Darlington

UNDER CANVAS AGAIN. ?I reckon the fellows will turn out to see us tomorrow night, Teddy.? ?I hope so, Phil. We?ll show them that we are real circus performers, won?t we?? Phil Forrest nodded happily. ?They know that already, I think. But we shall both feel proud to perform in our home town again. They haven?t seen us in the ring since the day we first joined the show two years ago, and then it was only a little performance.?

By: Victor Appleton

Chapter 1. An Explosion. ?Are you all ready, Tom?? ?All ready, Mr. Sharp,? replied a young man, who was stationed near some complicated apparatus, while the questioner, a dark man, with a nervous manner, leaned over a large tank.

By: Thomas Carlyle

Of Friedrich?s childhood, there is not, after all our reading, much that it would interest the English public to hear tell of. Perhaps not much of knowable that deserves anywhere to be known. Books on it, expressly handling it, and Books on Friedrich Wilhelm?s Court and History, of which it is always a main element, are not wanting: but they are mainly of the sad sort which, with pain and difficulty, teach us nothing, Books done by pedants and tenebrific persons, under t...

By: Hippolyte A. Taine

Preface: ?In Egypt,? says Clement of Alexandria,[1] ?the sanctuaries of the temples are shaded by curtains of golden tissue. But on going further into the interior in quest of the statue, a priest of grave aspect, advancing to meet you and chanting a hymn in the Egyptian tongue, slightly raises a veil to show you the god. And what do you behold? A crocodile, or some indigenous serpent, or other dangerous animal, the Egyptian god being a beast sprawling on a purple carpet.?

By: Edgar B. P. Darlington

The Circus Boys on the Mississippi MAKING A LIVELY START. ?Have you had any trouble with Diaz, Teddy?? ?Who?s he?? ?The new Spanish clown.? ?Oh!? Teddy Tucker?s face grew serious. ?What about him, Phil?? ?That is what I am asking you. Have you had any misunderstanding?angry words or anything of the sort with him?? persisted Phil Forrest, with a keen, inquiring glance into the ...

By: Victor Appleton

TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT. There was a rushing, whizzing, throbbing noise in the air. A great body, like that of some immense bird, sailed along, casting a grotesque shadow on the ground below. An elderly man, who Was seated on the porch of a large house, started to his feet in alarm.

By: Hippolyte A. Taine

Preface: The following third and last part of the Origins of Contemporary France is to consist of two volumes. After the present volume, the second is to treat of the Church, the School and the Family, describe the modern milieu and note the facilities and obstacles which a society like our own encounters in this new milieu: here, the past and the present meet, and the work already done is continued by the work which is going on under our eyes. The undertaking is hazardo...

By: Edgar B. P. Darlington

Phil gets into action. ?I?ve had enough!? groans the car manager. A telegram to the owner complains of the Circus Boys. ?Either you get off this car or I do.? The advance car is a bedlam. More trouble for the Circus Boys is in sight.